Mr. Coburn introduced
the following bill; which was read the first time

September 8, 2008

Read the second time and placed on the
calendar

A BILL

To provide for the investigation of certain unsolved
civil rights crimes, and for other purposes.

1.

Short
title

This Act may be cited as
the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights
Crime Act of 2008.

2.

Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that all
authorities with jurisdiction, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and other entities within the Department of Justice, should—

(1)

expeditiously investigate unsolved civil
rights murders, due to the amount of time that has passed since the murders and
the age of potential witnesses; and

(2)

provide all the resources necessary to
ensure timely and thorough investigations in the cases involved.

3.

Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section of the
Civil Rights Division

(a)

In General

The Attorney General shall designate a
Deputy Chief in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the
Department of Justice (in this Act referred to as the Deputy
Chief).

(b)

Responsibility

(1)

In general

The Deputy Chief shall be responsible for
coordinating the investigation and prosecution of violations of criminal civil
rights statutes that occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in
a death.

(2)

Coordination

In investigating a complaint under
paragraph (1), the Deputy Chief may coordinate investigative activities with
State and local law enforcement officials.

(c)

Study and Report

(1)

Study

The Attorney General shall annually conduct
a study of the cases under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Chief or under the
jurisdiction of the Supervisory Special Agent and, in conducting the study,
shall determine—

(A)

the number of open investigations within
the Department of Justice for violations of criminal civil rights statutes that
occurred not later than December 31, 1969;

(B)

the number of new cases opened pursuant to
this Act since the most recent study conducted under this paragraph;

(C)

the number of unsealed Federal cases
charged within the study period, including the case names, the jurisdiction in
which the charges were brought, and the date the charges were filed;

(D)

the number of cases referred by the
Department of Justice to a State or local law enforcement agency or prosecutor
within the study period, the number of such cases that resulted in State
charges being filed, the jurisdiction in which such charges were filed, the
date the charges were filed, and if a jurisdiction declines to prosecute or
participate in an investigation of a case so referred, the fact it did
so;

(E)

the number of cases within the study period
that were closed without Federal prosecution, the case names of unsealed
Federal cases, the dates the cases were closed, and the relevant Federal
statutes;

(F)

the number of attorneys who worked, in
whole or in part, on any case described in subsection (b)(1); and

(G)

the applications submitted for grants under
section 5, the award of such grants, and the purposes for which the grant
amount were expended.

(2)

Report

Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 12 months thereafter, the Attorney General
shall prepare and submit to Congress a report containing the results of the
study conducted under paragraph (1).

4.

Supervisory Special Agent in the Civil
Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

(a)

In General

The Attorney General shall designate a
Supervisory Special Agent in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation of the Department of Justice (in this Act referred to as the
Supervisory Special Agent).

(b)

Responsibility

(1)

In general

The Supervisory Special Agent shall be
responsible for investigating violations of criminal civil rights statutes that
occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death.

(2)

Coordination

In investigating a complaint under
paragraph (1), the Supervisory Special Agent may coordinate the investigative
activities with State and local law enforcement officials.

5.

Grants to State and local law
enforcement

(a)

In general

The Attorney General may make grants to
State or local law enforcement agencies for expenses associated with the
investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses, involving civil rights,
that occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death.

(b)

Authorization of
appropriations

There are
authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through
2017 to carry out this section.

6.

Authorization of appropriations

(a)

In general

There are authorized to be appropriated, in
addition to any other amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated for this
purpose, to the Attorney General $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008
through 2017 for investigating and prosecuting violations of criminal civil
rights statutes that occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in
a death. Amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall be allocated by
the Attorney General to the Deputy Chief and the Supervisory Special Agent in
order to advance the purposes set forth in this Act.

(b)

Community Relations Service of the
Department of Justice

In
addition to any amounts authorized to be appropriated under title XI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
(42 U.S.C. 2000h et
seq.), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Community
Relations Service of the Department of Justice $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2008
and each subsequent fiscal year, to enable the Community Relations Service (in
carrying out the functions described in title X of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000g et
seq.)) to provide technical assistance by bringing together law
enforcement agencies and communities in the investigation of violations of
criminal civil rights statutes, in cases described in section 4(b).

7.

Definition of criminal civil rights
statutes

In this Act, the term
criminal civil rights statutes means—

(1)

section 241 of title 18, United States Code
(relating to conspiracy against rights);

(2)

section 242 of title 18, United States Code
(relating to deprivation of rights under color of law);

(3)

section 245 of title 18, United States Code
(relating to federally protected activities);

(4)

sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, United
States Code (relating to involuntary servitude and peonage);

(5)

section 901 of the
Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3631);
and

(6)

any other Federal law that—

(A)

was in effect on or before December 31,
1969; and

(B)

the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights
Division of the Department of Justice enforced, before the date of enactment of
this Act.

8.

Sunset

Sections 2 through 6 of this Act shall cease
to have force or effect at the end of fiscal year 2017.

9.

Authority of Inspectors
General

Title XXXVII of the
Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:

3703.

Authority of Inspectors General

(a)

In general

An Inspector General appointed under
section 3 or 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) may
authorize staff to assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children—

(1)

by conducting reviews of inactive case
files to develop recommendations for further investigations; and

(2)

by engaging in similar activities.

(b)

Limitations

(1)

Priority

An Inspector General may not permit staff
to engage in activities described in subsection (a) if such activities will
interfere with the duties of the Inspector General under the Inspector General
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

(2)

Funding

No additional funds are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this
section.

.

10.

Use of
resources

For any fiscal year
in which Congress does not provide funding to carry out this Act at the levels
authorized, the Attorney General shall give priority to allocating amounts to
carry out this Act in allocating amounts appropriated for the Department of
Justice—

(1)

under the heading SALARIES AND EXPENSES, GENERAL LEGAL
ACTIVITIES under the heading Legal
Activities;

(2)

under the heading SALARIES AND EXPENSES,
COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE under the heading
United States Marshals Service;
and

(3)

under the heading
SALARIES AND EXPENSES under the
heading Federal Bureau of
Investigation.

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